Rhymes, 28, has been chasing his major-league dream since graduating from William and Mary in 2005. He's had his shots, and some success, but currently finds himself back in Triple-A, toiling in the minor leagues for the seventh season.

Which prompts a question: If this baseball thing doesn't, after all this time, work out, what then?

"I have no idea," said Rhymes, who led the Colonial Athletic Association with a .413 batting average as a senior. "I really don't. I try not to think about it too much. I was planning on going to medical school out of college before I got drafted, but I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen right now. The longer I play baseball, the more that's pretty much my only skill.

"I guess if I play too much longer, I'm going to have to stay in baseball the rest of my life."

The way Rhymes says it, it doesn't sound like such a bad fate.

Drafted by Detroit in the 27th round in 2005, Rhymes hit .328 as a 22-year-old in low-A ball and began steadily working his way up the minor-league ladder. He hit .304 in high-A Lakeland in 2007 and .307 in a 2008 season split between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo.

Then, in 2010, after hitting .305 in 95 games with the Mud Hens, Rhymes was called up and made his Tigers debut on July 25. In 54 games, he hit .304, making him the first Tigers rookie to hit .300 in 70 years and helping him earn a starting spot at second base in the 2011 Opening Day lineup at Yankee Stadium.

"I kind of thought that I deserved to make the roster," Rhymes said. "That was part of what I expected. But to open up in Yankee Stadium and start opening day against C.C. (Sabathia) with my family there and everything — it was a great experience, despite it being absolutely freezing."

Rhymes' first major-league start also was supposed to happen at Yankee Stadium, but he ended up arriving 10 minutes before the first pitch because of mechanical trouble with his plane out of Detroit.

"They had called me in the morning pretty late, barely enough time to get to Detroit and get on the plane," Rhymes said. "I finally get on the flight and I'm like, 'I made it. I'm going to be playing in Yankee Stadium tonight.' I'm not a Yankee fan at all, but it's special for all players to play in New York. No sooner had that that thought gone through my head than the captain came on and said. 'We're going to deplane now. We can't shut the cargo door.' "

Though his 2010 season was successful, Rhymes' 2011 stay in Detroit was short. After hitting .221 (15 hits in 68 at-bats), Rhymes was sent down to Triple-A after just 19 games.

"The first time I was sent down, it was just a result of someone coming off the (disabled list)," Rhymes said. "I had done really well. It was just a matter of a roster spot. This time, it was really frustrating because I made the opening-day roster. I'd done really well last year in the couple hundred at-bats I had, and I was expecting to be there a long time. I played 19 games and struggled a little bit and got sent down. In baseball, 19 games isn't really much. To be judged on that isn't really fair.

"I understood why they had to do it. They had to make a move, but it's frustrating when you're the guy involved."

At Toledo, Rhymes is hitting .317 with 19 RBI in 74 games. He doesn't think, however, he's turning any heads in Detroit, where the Tigers are 55-48 and in first place in the AL Central.

"I've been here for three-plus months hitting over .300 and doing everything that's been asked of me," Rhymes said. "I'm still here, and I don't see that changing. I don't know. It's frustrating, but all I can do is go out there and play."

Not that Rhymes isn't used to fighting through obstacles. At 5-foot-9 and 155 pounds, his slight size has fueled his drive his entire career.

Tribe coach Frank Leoni, who came to William and Mary a year after Rhymes graduated, has gotten to know Rhymes and compares him to 5-9, 180-pound Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

"Guys like that have always been told they're too small or will never have enough power," Leoni said. "Some guys use it as a cliché and get slighted. Will acts upon that slighted feeling. He's going to maximize everything he has.

"It would not surprise me if Will ends up back in major-league baseball before long."

While Rhymes says he'll play as long as he's having fun, he certainly intends to return there.

"I've never had any interest in being a minor-league player, a guy who hangs around forever and plays in the minor leagues and makes a decent living," Rhymes said. "I want to play in the big leagues. I know I can play in the big leagues. That's what I'm interested in doing."